Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez participated in the Australian Grand Prix without any aerodynamic features on his Aprilia MotoGP bike and expressed that he felt like he was “flying.” The Phillip Island circuit is unique on the MotoGP calendar, allowing riders to race without aero due to the strong winds at the seaside location. Taking advantage of this regulation, Fernandez and Aprilia’s satellite Trackhouse team removed all aerodynamic components from the bike, including the wings on the fairing, for the Australian races.
Although Fernandez’s race was impacted by a disappointing start from a promising sixth position on the grid, he was excited by the experience and performance of riding ‘wingless’ on the flowing track at Phillip Island. This was an experience the Spanish rider had not encountered since joining the premier class three years ago. We tried it on Saturday, and it went very well. This is the only track in the world championship where you are allowed to remove the wings because of the intense wind, Fernandez explained after finishing the grand prix.
After a bad start on Sunday, Fernandez was overtaken by the group and finished the first lap in 13th place. Before finishing the race in tenth place, he steadily improved to ninth place, which he lost to Fabio Quartararo in the closing stages. He had only positive things to say about his speed during the race, though, despite the dismal outcome.
Running without the wings was really good; I was really flying. The feeling was incredible. I had never ridden without wings; it was very nice. Aprilia trusted me, and I offered myself as a guinea pig to make a good bike. I had a great time; it’s been a long time since I’ve felt a bike like this, the Spanish racer insisted.
I think I had the pace to finish fourth. I was catching the group ahead of me at the end, so I was happy with our pace, and I think we did a good job. We held the gap to Fabio di Giannantonio’s group. We had the same pace, and, in the end, we were even faster. We talked about the idea with the team on Saturday and decided to do it. And the truth is that it has been very good for us to collect data for next year, the 23-year-old rider added.
The experiment was a bit crazy, but we got some good conclusions. The real pity, the most annoying thing, is to lose so many positions at the start. Basically, we have to understand what we have to do to start well because this is the key to MotoGP. We have a lot of wheelies, and when that happens, you cannot use the power. I have to close the throttle, he asserted. Fernandez also suffered a poor start in the sprint race, dropping to 11th at the end of lap one. He recovered to finish seventh, which became sixth when Di Giannantonio was penalized for a tire pressure infringement on his VR46 Ducati.
Meanwhile, LCR Honda rider Johann Zarco believes that his bike belongs in MotoGP once again after his run to 12th place in the Australian Grand Prix. It was an impressive pace. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing on my dash. We did almost the entire race below the 1m29s mark. I put my full focus on repeating everything I was doing, and I stayed with the guys in front of me, the French racer admitted. I’m happy because the race pace was impressive. The bike still has this limit I’m fighting with, that I cannot turn the bike as I want and control the traction. I need to be very conservative—I lose meters compared to the others, Zarco added.
